Marionette or puppet



June 9, 1959 H. c. MOSHER 2,

MARIONETTE 0R PUPPET Filed Jan. 30, 1956 Inventor HUGH C. MOSHER United States Patent MARIONETTE 0R PUPPET Hugh C. Masher, Phoenix, Ariz. Application January 30, 1956, Serial No. 562,308

4 'Claims. (Cl. 46-126) This invention relates to a marionette or puppet to be employed in puppet shows.

Puppets or marionettes have long been employed in theatrical performances, the figures being small images representing the human figure which are suitably painted and dressed and which have the various portions of the body flexibly connected together. Control strings are attached to the various parts of the figure and are secured to a controller from which the puppet is suspended to provide means by which the puppet may be manipulated as desired. It is one object of the present invention to provide a puppet of the type referred to, having particularly realistic appearance and capable of being controlled to give lifelike movement.

Another object is to provide a puppet with quick release means for the hands so that the hands may be replaced at will during a performance.

Other and further objects and advantages of the device will be clear from the following specifications, taken with the accompanying drawings in which like characters of reference refer to like parts in the several views, and in which:

Fig. l is an enlarged view of the wrist and hand of the puppet showing the quick release means for the hand; and

Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the wrist and hand shown in Fig. 1 with the quick release means in releasing position.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, a portion of a forearm is shown at 42.

Hands 43 are connected to forearm 42 by Wrist joint 44. Wrist joint 44 is made up of crossed-arm tongs having a base portion 44b which is rigidly embedded in the forearm. Wrist pins 45 are mounted on each of the ends of the tongs 44 so that they are axially aligned when the tongs are in a closed position. The wrist end of the forearm 42 is partially cut away to provide space for the tongs 44, and forearm elements 42a mounted on the arms of tongs 44 to act as pressure means for actuations of the tongs are shaped to complete the forearm structure.

The wrist pins 45 engage in apertures 46 in an extension 47 at the wrist of hand 43.

As will be seen from Figs. 1 and 2 in order to detach hand 43 from forearm 42 it is only necessary to squeeze the tongs by means of surfaces 42a which opens the tongs so that wrist pins 45 are withdrawn from aperture 46 and the hand may be removed. It is necessary, of course, that an operating string be secured to the hand for manipulating the hand from above. For this purpose a bar 48 is provided having an aperture 46a at one end. The hand 43 is made with a longitudinal slideway 49 into which the bar 48 is inserted so that aperture 46a coincides with aperture 46 of the hand and is engaged by the wrist pin 45. When it is desired to change hands the tongs are opened as explained above and the hand 2,889,660 Patented June 9, 1959 43 including the bar 48 is removed. The hand 43 is then in turn removed from the bar 48 and a new hand is applied to the bar 48, and the new hand with bar 48 in place is placed in tongs 44 with the wrist pin 48 engaging the apertures 46-46a. It will be seen, therefore, that it is possible to have the puppet perform actions realistically which were formerly impossible due to the fact that the hands may be rapidly interchanged to place various objects therein.

It will thus be seen that the objects hereinbefore set forth may readily and efiiciently be attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention, which as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention which I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a string operated puppet, a forearm and hand assembly comprising a forearm member, and crossedarm tongs having a rigid, rearwardly extending base portion embedded in said member, said tongs carrying pin elements on the free ends thereof that in the closed position of the tongs provide a pivot pin, a hand provided at the wrist with a tenon, a bore through said tenon so arranged as to receive said pivot pin of said tongs to form the wrist joint.

2. The puppet of claim 1 in which the crossed-arm tongs is operable by squeezing to open to release said pivot pin from said bore in said tennon.

3. The puppet of claim 1 in which said hand is provided with a slideway extending from said tenon to a position near the knuckles of said hand, and a bar receivable in said slideway, said bar being provided with a bore which aligns with the bore in said tenon for reception of said pin element and said bar being provided at its opposite end with a means to which a control string may be secured.

4. The puppet of claim 1 in which opposite sides of the forearm are cut away in the wrist area to provide space for the tongs, and forearm elements mounted on the arms of the tongs in said cutaway area as opposed pressure means for actuation of the tongs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 46,940 Putnam Mar. 21, 1865 205,314 Steuber June 25, 1878 244,025 Atwood July 12, 1881 918,225 Townley Apr. 13, 1909 924,521 Wulkan June 8, 1909 1,065,354 Goldenberg June 24, 1913 1,287,008 Harrison Dec. 10, 1918 1,304,201 Ralston et a1 May 20, 1919 1,859,175 Schaefier May 17, 1932 2,261,328 Baum Nov. 4, 1941 2,307,523 Maisel Jan. 5, 1943 2,506,328 Alger May 2, 1950 2,622,369 Beal Dec. 23, 1952 2,652,658 Barkey Sept. 22, 1953 2,662,338 Baird Dec. 15, 1953 

